Restful weekend and back to same old, same old for husband

 I had what I needed - a relaxing weekend.  Saturday I did nothing, other than one wash load in the morning, put on the electric airer as I was up very early (another bad night) and could make use of the off-peak electricity.  The rest of the day I just read my latest book, a David Baldacci thriller, and did quite a lot of rows on the Christmas present crochet blanket.  I did cook the dinners of course, although it was more a case of just quickly preparing it - frozen battered cod steaks done in the top oven, I put them in ciabatta rolls with sliced Swiss cheese and mayo, with salad and coleslaw on the side for Saturday, bubble & squeak with homemade veg and bean burgers on Sunday.  We went for our flu jabs at 8 am Saturday morning, all very well organised and we were very swiftly in and out.  No ill effects other than a slightly sore arm - I could say tiredness as well, but as I'm always so tired lately due to all the bad nights, I've no idea whether it was due to the jab or not.  With the clocks going back, in theory we had an extra hour in bed...the reality is I was still up extremely early on Sunday.  I just can't do lie-ins, never could, even as a teenager.

It's just a run of bad nights, it gets like this occasionally, sooner or later I'll get back to normal (whatever that is!).

Sunday morning we went to town, they have a monthly craft and artisan market, although this is the first time we've been to it, I think we've been at the caravan most other days it's been on.  Husband mooned around with his hands in his pockets, doing his usual 'bored teenager/husband' thing, refusing to look at most stalls and exclaiming at the cost of things he did see.  I bought some homemade wheat-free dog biscuits, in banana and peanut butter flavours, both of which Betty likes.  I also got a beautiful hand-decorated glass, a birthday present for a friend.  There was a cheese stall, I bought a couple of wedges of goats cheeses.

Forgot to mention the other day after seeing the GP....I asked him about the kidney function test and app, he confirmed it is because I'm at risk of getting kidney disease, partly due to my diabetes, but also because of the existing small lump on one of my kidneys and my family history of kidney cancer.

Husband's helpfulness is beginning to wear off, he's started going back to his not doing much and lounging watching TV (falling asleep in front of) ways.  It's always the same, he has a few weeks of doing more and then tires of it and slips back into his old laziness.  I'll have to have another chat with him, sigh.  I know he's getting older (72 in January) and his health's not great - but nor is mine, I have a list of ailments as long as my arm and am in pain or feeling unwell pretty much every single day.  But I just get on with things - partly because if I didn't, nothing would get done at all, and partly because I refuse to just give up and vegetate into old age.  That's no way to live the rest of my life, and I'm not going to.  I sometimes wonder what he would do if I had a stroke, say, or fell over and broke a few bones.....something that meant I COULDN'T do anything.  He would have to do stuff then!

Soup, midweek roast and loss of energy

 I made a lovely soup yesterday, using a small butternut squash, 2 parsnips, 2 carrots and a red onion.  Served with some croutons and a swirl of cream on top, it was really nice.  Enough for today and tomorrow too.  Then I chopped up a load of veg for a midweek roast dinner - husband had a chicken breast wrapped in bacon, I just had the veg, stuffing (out of a packet) and gravy.  Husband helped with prepping the veggies.  I prepped some more of our apples and made 2 apple crumbles for the freezer.

We're off to Weston this morning, there's a big shoe shop there and I need some new winter shoes, as well as some new underwear and a few things in Wilko.  There are a couple of shops husband wants to look in as well.  So it'll be good to have the soup ready to just heat up when we get back, and dinner will be cauli cheese batch cooked and frozen, with oven baked mushrooms and garlic bread, an easy meal.  Husband can have bacon with his, if he wants.

I've been very busy this week and it's affecting my energy levels and hip, so will be having a weekend of relaxing.  Had a few bad nights as well, so I need to catch up on sleep, if possible.  Chopping up all that veg for lunch and dinner, making the crumbles and putting washing out yesterday wore me out - well, it was the culmination of the very busy week and lack of sleep.  I felt like I was dropping with exhaustion so after lunch I had to go upstairs for a nap in my recliner chair.  Went to bed early too, but had another bad night, my hip was really killing me.

Betty had a whole chicken breast for her birthday dinner yesterday, poached in low-salt chicken stock, she wolfed it down.  She then shared some of husband's pear and banana, both of which she loves.  We made lots of fuss of her and played with her a lot, I think she enjoyed herself, she certainly slept well, unlike me.

I won't be blogging over the weekend, probably back Monday.  We've got our flu jabs early tomorrow morning, other than that I won't be doing anything.

Test results and a new project

 Husband's chest x-ray showed no significant changes since his last one.  However, the ECG showed signs of some heart disturbance and means he needs further investigation by cardiology....we thought the GP had already referred him, but it seems he was waiting for the test results first - seems sensible, I guess.  He was going to do the cardiology referral straight away yesterday and in the meantime has increased the dose of the new heart medication he gave husband last month.

My hip x-ray revealed no particular concerns, other than low level osteoarthritis, which the GP said shouldn't be enough to cause my current pain.  However, after doing a lot of manipulations of my leg (which hurt like hell), he said I have Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (GTPS) - used to be called Trochanteric Bursitis and is what I already have in my right hip, diagnosed a couple of years ago.  He said it's obviously significantly worse in my left hip - I can vouch for that!  He's referring me for physio - actually, it's self referral nowadays, he gave me all the details.  He also said he thinks steroid injections in my hips would be most beneficial, but it's up to the physiotherapist to prescribe and administer them, not the GP.

I've rung the physio department, the very nice lady said there's a waiting list currently of around 10-12 weeks.....which was a pleasant surprise, I thought she was going to say 10-12 months!  She did say they could text me details of an app for self management of the condition - honestly, what is it with blimmin apps for all health stuff nowadays?  Sooner or later nobody will actually see a medical professional, it'll all be done by apps or robots!  Anyway, I declined, I'd rather wait and see an actual person.

I gathered up my yarn supplies - well, the ones in bags in the bedrooms and one or two in the lounge and under the stairs (I didn't send husband up into the loft) - and put them all into my craft cupboard drawers.  There wasn't as much as I was anticipating, I vaguely remember giving a bagful to my neighbour for her young daughter who wanted something to do during the summer holidays, I think I also gave a bagful of odd balls to a charity shop.  Anyway, I found around a dozen full balls of Aran, in autumnal colours of forest green, brown and orange.  I don't recall what I bought them for - they are certainly not colours I would normally go for, far from it, so I must have bought them for a specific purpose.  Thinking about it, it may well have been for a lap blanket for my late mother, they were definitely the sort of colours she would have liked.  So I've decided to make a lap blanket for an elderly neighbour, the colours will go well with her home decor and it'll be a nice Christmas present for her.

Put to bed

 Caravan put to bed for the winter.  There were a few people staying for the last week of the season, and quite a few other owners who'd come for the purpose of closing down - we've hardly seen them all year, for whatever reason they hardly ever come.  One man complained to me that every time he comes, it's not relaxing at all, it's all work, work, work.  Well, that's because he and his wife hardly ever come to stay in their van, consequently by the time they do come their garden is very overgrown and their van is badly in need of a complete external wash, so it's no wonder they have so much work to do!  It was a bit sad leaving, of course, especially saying goodbye to friends, but we know we'll be back in March next year, as will most of our friends there.

Both husband and I have GP appointments today, he for his heart stuff, me for my hip.  Let's hope we both get some positive answers for what happens going forward from here.  Husband is taking the car to the garage for an oil change tomorrow, I have more apples to process and freeze and some more veggie burgers and meals to make.  I also want to gather up my yarn stash, which is currently in several places including the loft, and see exactly what I've got.  I feel another blanket coming on - well, it is nearly winter after all - possibly a random colour stash busting one.  Friday - so far - we have a relatively free day, then we're both having our flu jabs early on Saturday morning.  Husband had made the appointments for 08.10 am(!!)....if they hadn't been that early, we could have stayed at the caravan Friday and Saturday.  Never mind.

Cherie, by the time I read your comment about the geraniums, I'd already cut them all back.  But I couldn't have put them under the caravan anyway - there's a tile and wooden lattice skirt all around the bottom of the van, to cut down on draughts (the lattice part is to allow access to taps underneath the van).  And I'd have had to dig up all the geraniums and put them in pots, they're in a flower bed at the front of the van.  I don't really mind if they don't survive the winter, the plantlets are cheap enough to buy in packs in Spring.

Ilona, thank you for your comment, I've read it but am not publishing it - that's not what this blog is about and I don't really want to get involved in discussions of that nature.  Your views differ from mine, which is absolutely fine.

Kidney disease and last day at the caravan

 I did some research yesterday, going to the NHS website and looking for information on the kidney function at home test.  Seems it's been a 'thing' for the past couple of years, it's targeted at people who are at risk of developing kidney disease.  They send you this kit with full instructions on how to dip test your urine, then scan the dipstick with your phone using the downloaded app, the results get sent to your GP.  It's an annual thing, apparently.  OK, fair enough.....but I have an annual diabetes review, which includes a full blood test and urine test every year anyway, around the time of my birthday (which means it's due very soon).  And the blood test for that includes the kidney function test - I know, I checked on my medical record.  So I'm still a bit mystified as to why they want me to do this at home test, when I get it done every year at the surgery anyway as an integral part of my diabetes review.  I'll be seeing the GP in the next few days, perhaps I'll ask him.

Thanks for the comments about it - it appears that diabetics are at risk of kidney disease, which is probably why I'm being asked to do the test.  I didn't know about the kidney disease risk, it's never been mentioned to me before - I knew about diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy, both of which my diabetes nurse has discussed with me, but not the CKD.  So that's a bit worrying.  But as my diabetes is pretty well controlled, I'll try not to worry!

We're off to the caravan today, to give it a good clean and close it up for winter.  We'll also cut down the still-flowering pelargoniums which have given a fantastic show this year - I doubt they'll survive the winter, and we have nowhere to overwinter them at home now husband doesn't have his polytunnel anymore.  I'll definitely get more next year though.  There will be a few others there having a final few days and then closing up their vans, so we'll be having a few chats as well.  I'd have liked to spend another night or 2 there this week myself, but it's a busy week, we need to be home for a few things so haven't got the time.  I checked in my caravan notebook and we've spent a total of 85 nights there this season - that's just over 12 weeks, plus a few day visits, in the 8-month season.  I think it'll be more next year!

Mysterious text

 I've just had a very strange text, telling me I'll be getting a kit for a kidney function test through the post, for which I have to download an app onto my phone, and click on a link for more information.  My immediate thought was that it was a scam of some sort.....I don't download or click on anything that's sent completely unsolicited and out of the blue.  So I rang the surgery to check it out.  The receptionist didn't seem to know anything much about it, so put me on hold whilst she had a word with the practice manager.  She came back to say it's genuine, it's a new initiative apparently in collaboration with a firm contracted to the NHS, to take some of the workload off of GPs.  However, they were under the impression it wasn't starting until next week.

My first question was why haven't patients been advised that this would be happening, rather than us receiving a seemingly completely random text that we know nothing about?  She said we could click on the link for further info, she seemed not to grasp that it would have been better for us to be forewarned that this would be happening.  My next query was why do they think I'm in need of a kidney function test?  Again, she didn't know but thought perhaps it may be to do with my diabetes.  Which I find doubtful.  Having thought about it, I think it's more likely that they're checking my kidneys for something else, as I do have a documented incontinence problem, and a lump on one of my kidneys which they say isn't cancerous (I've had a scan) and isn't currently likely to cause a problem.  Also, both my mother and sister had kidney cancer.....Mum's was advanced and one of the things that killed her, sister's was caught early and operated on to remove the offending part of her kidney and she's since been given the all-clear.  So maybe I've been identified as having a possible hereditary or genetic risk.  It would just be nice to be told about things like this!

This morning we nipped into town to get a very small top up shop, half a dozen things I forgot last week, and to drop off a bin bagful of clothes to the charity shop - I had a big sort out yesterday.  I've made about 10 days worth of dog food, husband has been out in the back garden and collected the remaining apples off the trees.  I'll have to process them sometime in the next week or 2, the cookers especially don't keep well, disappointingly.  Won't be today though, my hip is really making its presence felt.

Red doors, no longer trusting, veggies and my lovely doggy

 Yesterday husband did the first coat on one of the 2 downstairs doors in the hallway (the new UPVC front door doesn't need painting, obviously).  I'm so pleased with it, it's the perfect colour.  For those who think I'm forcing husband to do work he's not fit enough to do - of course I'm not, he wanted to do it and I frequently tell him to take breaks and not to do anything he doesn't feel capable of.  We've had our difficulties recently, but I've always been mindful of his health problems and it's actually been me who has stopped him from doing things I know would put a strain on his health.  We've (well, it's me really, husband is a bit clueless about colour schemes) chosen a deep red for the downstairs doors, it goes really well with the lounge and hallway - we have red curtains in both, red rugs in the lounge, plain magnolia walls for the hall, stairs and landing, and cafe latte for the lounge walls.  We're having a deep plum colour for the upstairs doors, which again goes really well with the decor in the bedrooms, which are shades of blue, lilac and plum.  I like plain walls painted in light colours, with accents of deeper or brighter colour for the furnishings and accessories.

Thank you for all the comments, every one is read and appreciated.  Annabeth, yes the person is aware, I've not heard a word from them.  Nor have I heard a single word from my siblings.  I don't know what's going on or why, I don't feel inclined to get in touch right now.  In the past I would have taken the bull by the horns and tried to sort things out - I've always done that, with both family and friends.  Now though, along with other aspects of my life and the way I've done things in the past, I'm taking a different approach.  I think I've been too trusting in the past.....I'm no longer doing that.  That might seem sad or disappointing - I prefer to see it as a positive thing, for my own wellbeing.

I'm so pleased with the way my mostly vegetarian and certainly much healthier food regime is going.  I continue to eat fish, which I really love, and the occasional bit of bacon or gammon....and by that I mean perhaps once a week or 10 days.  I have a bacon sandwich on a Sunday morning every couple of weeks, and a bit of chopped up bacon or gammon used as a flavouring in some of my veggie or pasta dishes.  I wouldn't eat a whole gammon steak though, that doesn't appeal to me at all, nor would I eat any other meat.  I've now lost 8lbs - not as a result of cutting out meat, obviously, but because I'm consciously eating smaller meals and a much healthier diet - lots and lots of vegetables, everything cooked from scratch, no ready meals or processed foods other than the occasional Linda McCartney rosemary and red onion sausage, absolutely no snacking between meals.  We had got into the habit of having the occasional bag of crisps, pork pie, packet of dry roasted peanuts, even a bar of chocolate now and then - well now I just don't buy them.  At all.  I have made cake for husband twice (I don't eat it), I have bought a packet of sugar free oaty biscuits twice - they've sat in the biscuit tin for a couple of weeks, even husband rarely eats them now, maybe having 1 or 2 a couple of times a week.  I feel so much healthier now, and husband is more than happy to eat some of my veggie meals.

We've got a busy week ahead - we're out or got something on every day, so I need to organise my time well.  My lovely Betty is 6 years old on Wednesday, it seems hard to believe we've had her for that long, since she was 8 weeks old.  I can't imagine life without her, she's my constant companion, follows me everywhere around the house, sleeps on my bed every night.  She's a total delight and makes me smile every single day.  Even if it's a smile I'm trying to hide because she's being naughty and I'm trying not to laugh!